SHEET PAN MONGOLIAN BEEF RECIPE

We're still trying out sheet pan recipes. Anything that cooks in one pan is nice.  Now this does mess up an extra dish (a bowl) due to the sauce but it's worth it.  The first time I made this 2nd Man said "wow, you need to make this again".  Now he asks for it regularly. Yes, I give him the night off from cooking on occasion, ha!

Sauce ingredients

First you make a basic sauce.  It is a mixture of 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 3 TBSP sherry, 1 TBSP minced ginger, and 6 cloves of garlic, minced.

Just put it all into a bowl and whisk together.  

Next, take 1 LB of trimmed green beans (we cut ours in half as well) and toss on a sheet pan with 1 tsp of red pepper flakes and 3 TBSP of coconut oil. You could use any oil but trust us when we say the coconut really adds a great flavor. Toss it all together and put in a PREHEATED oven at 450 degrees. Roast for about 7-10 minutes.

Slicing flank steak

While the beans are roasting, slice the flank steak against the grain into thin pieces.  If they are too long, just cut each thin strip in half to make more bite sized pieces.

Remove the beans from the oven and set the sheet pan aside for a moment.

Toss the sliced flank steak in 1/4 cup cornstarch and allow to sit for a few minutes.

You know it's ready when you see that it has absorbed into the meat.

Move the green beans to the outside edges of the sheet pan...why?

To make space in the middle to spread out the meat.  Try to get it in one layer as much as possible so they will get the same sear that they would in a wok.

Roast at the same 450 degrees for 10 minutes.

But wait, where's the sauce? 

Take the sheet pan from the oven and pour the sauce over the meat, toss and put back in the oven for about 5 to 10 more minutes or until...

Sheet Pan Mongolian Beef and Green Beans

...it's browned and the sauce has started to turn into a glaze.  

Stir it all up so that the sauce gets all over the green beans and it's done and ready to serve.

Mongolian Beef with Green Beans

Dish it into bowls and serve!  We sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and some diced green onions just to add a bit of extra flavor and, of course, a pretty appearance.

Enjoy!

FRUIT HERBS VEGGIES HAIL AND RAIN

It was an odd weekend. Saturday a front came through and we had rain, wind, lightning, and pea sized hail at the farm.  Needless to say, Saturday was a stay in town day.  Then it got down into the low 40's?!?!?  

Yesterday though was quite possibly the most perfect day of the year so far.  Cool, breezy, low humidity, and just, well, gorgeous!  The wildflowers are starting to come out around the property too.  So pretty to see patches of color here and there.  

I mowed, it's always such a relief to mow.  I had to leave a few spots un-mowed because it was just TOO wet but for the most part, I got it all mowed and it feels good to see it.  Until next week or two when it's a foot tall again, ha. 

We have fruit! I can't remember which this is (and it looks odd, it's either peach or pear, like I said I took a ton of pics and now I don't remember which tree this was on, ha). 

We also have plums...

And peaches...

and pears!

Tomatoes are growing nicely and have blossoms...

The cucumbers both are starting to spread and have blossoms as well...

And look!  

We had an actual harvest There was ONE banana pepper, ha, and then I gathered some herbs to keep them growing and not blooming.  There are three kinds of basil, oregano, chives and Mexican tarragon.  

I also worked in the barn, did SO much in there too.  More on that in upcoming posts. It was a great weekend, after the storms of course.  

SHELVING UNITS TRASH TO TREASURE

Regular readers know that I have a favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock, where people can put the things they don't want.  

I've found quite a few cool items so far.

Here are the latest!

What are these?  I saw them laying next to the dumpster downstairs. I had a pretty good idea of what they were when I saw them all stacked up but wasn't a 100% sure how large they might be.  I looked and they seemed to be in good shape, other than a bit dusty.  I counted the poles and it was an even number so that was good.

I loaded them into the the Jeep (above in the back seat) and drove them to the farm.

I unloaded them in the yard to analyze all the pieces and figure it out.  It didn't take long to realize what I had found.  I was excited.  

Here it is after I started putting it together. It was so easy, there was a bottom with feet and then the poles just slid into the holes. Then you put the next part on top of the poles and they slide into holes in the bottom of the one above.  

I just repeated until the top and... 

BEHOLD!

A huge heavy duty shelving unit...

Resin shelving units

...oh wait!  

It's TWO heavy duty shelving units!

SCORE!

There is a grocery store and a restaurant in the building, these probably were used in their storage rooms.  We found some like them online at a restaurant supply company. These are more substantial than just plastic shelves, these are made of a heavy duty resin.  Each shelf supports 150lbs.  They are 36"wide and 24" deep and 6' tall.  They are crazy strong but oddly lightweight, I carried each one fully assembled, with no problem, to the barn. 

So excited, I put them in the barn and wow, they are perfect!  They'll stand up to the elements, support a lot weight, hold a lot of stuff because they are large and best of all, IT'S FREE STORAGE!

COVERED POTTING BENCH INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm. Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and someday, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!

Potting bench under cover, image via Pinterest.com

A covered potting bench?  

Yep.  Who knew that was a possibility.  How cool is this?  It could be nice to have a potting bench covered somehow.  Shade in the hot summer.  Protection from a soaking rain.  Keep the tools and supplies somewhat protected.  

Another something for the possible plan list, ha.

Be inspired!

COLLARD GREENS WITH BACON AND ONIONS

A few weeks ago, we posted about cabbage, onions and bacon with the cabbage we grew in our Fall/Winter garden.   I missed showing this, also with stuff we grew in the garden, this time collard greens.  This is a Southern staple for sure.  

We love collards!

Washed and cleaned collard greens

This was a batch that I had gathered.  We got about this much every weekend.  And we almost always cooked it like this.  Wash, chop and cut out the woody stem.  This was about 4 cups.  

It cooks down, we promise, ha. 

Fried bacon

While I was washing and chopping, 2nd Man fried some bacon in a skillet.  He took it out and set aside to drain.

Sautéing onions

In the bacon fat, he put some onions, sliced up, and sautéed them until they were golden and starting to turn a bit translucent.

Cooking collard greens

Then we pile in the collards.  Don't worry, they cook down quickly.  

Collards and Onions

Once they start cooking down, stir them around with the onions and continue cooking over medium heat until the cook down even more.

Collard Greens and Onions

They keep cooking down and we splash a bit of apple cider vinegar in there with it to add a depth of flavor.

Collard greens with bacon and onion

Lastly, add the bacon and stir.  

See! It DOES cook down, ha.

Collard Greens

Cook until the collards are tender and the flavors are well combined.  

Collard greens side dish

And serve!  A yummy side dish that goes well with meat.  In this case we had a nice steak on the side.  

We really love the collards, next Fall we'll be expanding them to a larger raised bed.

ORGANIZING THE KITCHEN STORAGE

So on a cold and wet day, what better thing to do that cleaning out a cabinet or drawer or two?

Firs thing I did was take everything out and stack it in a chair (and the counter and another horizontal surface).  These are various dish towels, potholders, and other kitchen linens we've acquired.  They were scattered around the house in various places. You know how that goes, a couple in a drawer, another in a cabinet, still more in the bedroom, a couple in the dining room...all in places they shouldn't be if they are going to be useful IN THE KITCHEN.  

You've probably seen this bench/cabinet before.  It's in the kitchen, next to the counter under the window.  I emptied it out (more junk of course) so I could start with a blank slate.

I got them all folded and organized and neatly stacked.  Believe it or not, there are quite a few in there.  Now we know what we have (and room for more, shhh, don't tell 2nd Man). 

The lid closes and it's all out of sight and safe.  This cabinet is definitely mouse proof, no gaps at all and  made of a heavy, hard wood.  The lid closes so tight, a sheet of paper won't pull out, so that's good.

Best of all, it let me clean out another couple of drawers in the hutch we have in the kitchen. So now there is space to reorganize something else into here. When you have a small house and limited space in the kitchen, every empty drawer or cabinet is important. Everything has a place. 

Got some more things done on this wet cold weekend.  Of course I need to mow, so hopefully that will come this coming weekend.

COLD AND WET AND WINDY

Wow, what a last blast of Winter.

Got to the farm and it was overcast, misty raining, windy and cold...

48 degrees when we got there and 42 when we left.  Fortunately, the house and barn were warmer inside, probably because it has been in the 80's and everything was warmed up.  The cold was so sudden the buildings were able to stay warm. For awhile anyway.  We stayed inside the house (and barn) doing things there and go a lot done.  Always a good feeling.  More on those in an upcoming post.  

Remember the birthday plant last week?  It was COVERED in flowers this week.  Can't wait to find just the right spot for it.

*side note, yes the fragrance is strong...

We had some pineapple this past week so I started two new pineapple cuttings.  Lost the ones we had already growing during the freeze.  Ugh.  Next Winter we'll put them INSIDE when the freeze comes.

Here is Hobart, just about 10 minutes ago when I took this picture.  That's an afghan I found at a thrift store ages ago and he LOVES it.  Wherever we put it, he sleeps on it.  In the chair, on the floor, or in this case, on the end table next to the couch.  

We think he's got the right idea. It's 44 outside right now, a good day to curl up under the blanket and relax where it's warm.